7 Best Sights in The Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

You'll find pretty much everything the Hood River Valley is famous for growing and producing at this picturesque, century-old farm anchored by a Dutch Colonial farmhouse and surrounded by acres of U-pick flowers, apple and peach trees, and blackberry and blueberry bushes. After strolling through the farm fields, stop inside the main house to sample local wines from Kennedy Family Farms and Cellars. Out back, there's a farm store, another tasting room serving local craft cider, and a garden patio with seating and a food-truck-style café serving delicious burgers, pear-goat cheese quesadillas, cherry-bacon flatbread pizzas, and other light fare.

A 620-foot-high double-decker torrent, the second-highest year-round waterfall in the nation, Multnomah is by far the most spectacular of the Gorge cataracts east of Troutdale. It's also incredibly popular, drawing some 2.5 million visitors annually. To help manage the sometimes excessive crowds, U.S. Forest Service has begun requiring visitors to obtain timed-use permits to visit the falls and drive the Waterfall corridor between late May and early September; you can reserve your ticket, which costs $2, at  recreation.gov. Access to the falls and Multnomah Lodge is via a parking lot at Exit 31 off Interstate 84, or via the Historic Columbia River Highway; from the parking area, a paved path winds to a bridge over the lower falls. A much steeper, also paved, 1.1-mile trail climbs to a viewing point overlooking the upper falls, and from here, unpaved but well-groomed trails join with others, allowing for hours of hiking in the rugged mountains above the Gorge. Even the paved ramble to the top will get your blood pumping.

A two-tier octagonal structure perched on the edge of this 730-foot-high cliff offers unparalleled 30-mile views up and down the Columbia River Gorge. The building dates to 1917, its rotunda and lower level filled with displays about the Gorge and the highway. Vista House's architect Edgar Lazarus was the brother of Emma Lazarus, author of the poem displayed at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the first federal dam to span the Columbia in 1937. Its generators (visible from a balcony on a self-guided tour or up close during free guided tours offered daily in summer and on weekends the rest of the year) have a capacity of more than a million kilowatts, enough to supply power to more than 200,000 single-family homes. There's an extensive visitor center on Bradford Island, complete with underwater windows where gaggles of kids watch migrating salmon and steelhead as they struggle up fish ladders. The best viewing times are between April and October. In recent years the dwindling runs of wild Columbia salmon have made the dam a subject of much environmental controversy.

Built in 1909 and operated by the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, the largest state-operated fish hatchery is next door to Bonneville Dam. Visitors can view the fishponds in which Chinook, coho, and steelhead spawn—October and November are the most prolific times. Other ponds hold rainbow trout (which visitors can feed) and mammoth Columbia River sturgeon, some exceeding 10 feet in length.

Part of the joy of visiting this organic U-pick lavender farm that harvests some 75 varieties of the plant is the beautiful drive up the hill from the village of Odell. Stroll through the fields of lavender, relax in a chair taking in mesmerizing views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams, or peruse the huge selection of lavender products in the gift shop—everything from lip balms and shampoo to infused teas and dried lavender bouquets. The season for picking fresh lavender yourself is June–September, but you can visit the shop Friday–Sunday the rest of the year.

At this hydroelectric dam 50 miles east of the Bonneville Dam, you can tour a visitor center, which is located on the Oregon side of the river at Seufert Park, with surprisingly even-handed exhibits presenting differing perspectives on the Columbia River dams, with input from farmers, utility companies, environmentalists, and indigenous tribes. There's also a live feed of salmon and sturgeon scaling the fish ladder.